1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the filed of contact center technologies and, more particularly, providing a computer telephone interface (CTI) whose operation is based upon open standards architecture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional implementations of contact center architectures are based upon proprietary protocols, hardware, and software. Such implementations typically create environments where components from different vendors are incompatible with one another, locking a contact center into a single vendor system. As such, these systems are often unable to integrate new technologies for handling voice and data, such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS), without substantial cost.
FIG. 1 (PRIOR ART) illustrates how a conventional contact center system 100 handles telephony and data communications. It is important to note that communications made between the components of system 100 use proprietary links, except where notes. As in a typical telephony system, the public branch exchange (PBX) 105 relays an incoming call to the interactive voice response (IVR) system 110 using a generic communications link, such as a T1 connection.
The IVR 110 can consult the computer telephone integration (CTI) server 120 and then can direct the call, using the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), to an appropriate voice application 115. The voice application 115 can receive user data from the caller, which the IVR 110 transfers to information server (IServer) 124. The user data can be stored in a data store 126 associated with the CTI server 120.
A transfer request from IVR 110 to a contact center agent can be sent to the transaction server (TServer) 122. Upon receiving the request, the TServer 122 can consult the IServer 124 and workflow manager 130 to determine agent availability. Once an agent is selected to handle the call, the workflow manager 130 can request that the TServer 122 transfer the call to the designated agent 135.
When the call is transferred to the agent 135, the agent desktop 140 can request the inputted user data from the IServer 124. Upon receipt of the user data, the agent desktop 140 can present contact center data to the agent 135. The agent using the desktop 140 can communicate with the caller and/or call center using voice and data modalities, both of which typically use proprietary hardware, software, and communication protocols, which are specific to a vendor providing the contact center solution 100. Often, the voice and data communication channels used by an agent are conveyed through two different physical lines, which are attached at the backend to different proprietary contact center hardware.
In a related application (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/680,304 entitled “IMPLEMENTING A CONTACT CENTER USING OPEN STANDARDS AND NON-PROPRIETARY COMPONENTS”), applicants have disclosed an open contact center, which describes a technique for implementing a contact center based upon open standards, which are independent upon any specific vendor. An open contact center permits interactions to occur using standard hardware and software devices. For example, an agent can interact with contact center components using standard telecommunication devices, such as a SIP based phone and/or a Web browser. Additionally, an open contact center can be expanded to benefit from new communication media. That is, the open contact center environment can allow contact center agents to interact with customers in a textual environment, a video conference environment, a co-browsing environment, in addition to a conventional voice environment. Additionally, the open contact center can utilize the latest trends in telephony services, such as VoIP and IMS.